Potatoes in the Mist

I was so anxious about Zoe's drop off class at the children's museum, but she loved it. The teacher said she did great, and "she separates really well." Then she stayed at the museum to play in a fire truck, among other things.

We were all at a birthday party in Riverside Park today. They had these fitness instructors telling the 6-year-olds to do jumping jacks. Eric wasn't into it and we were all getting kind of bored, so we went for a walk, then realized it would be awkward to go back to the party, after leaving. So we continued walking along the river and found a small cafe by the water. We had a feast, including pistachio goat cheese and beet salad, plus fresh sweet corn on the cob. Sometimes the best things happen when you go "off the path."

We had a great day yesterday. My niece is graduating from high school, so my brother threw a party for her. We went to his house and swam in the pool and sat on lounge chairs. I also got to see his in-laws from Connecticut and North Carolina, including the newest baby who had a shiner! She was cute anyway. There was a delicious cake, part vanilla and part chocolate. My sister's boyfriend said mournfully, "I guess I missed my chance. There's nothing left but a little frosting." This morning I took a walk to my high school, crossing the field as I used to do in the morning. It was no longer scattered with goose turds, but I did see some small rust-colored mushrooms. The high school has been entirely renovated and looks amazing. It had some labels above doors ("auditorium," "academic wing," "field house") which it did not in my day. The "academic wing" puzzled me - isn't the whole place filled with classrooms? But it was proo...

In the golden age of blogging, I read about 15 blogs. Now most of them have closed up shop and I only read a handful of blogs on a regular basis. Recent themes in these blogs include feral cats, whether or not to embark on a friendship with benefits, and going back to graduate school. I started wondering whether these 3 people would get along in real life :) It would be interesting to see. Our lives are still largely consumed by the HVAC project, which is coming to a close. I feel foolish for having talked D into renting the temporary apartment. We ended up only staying away the first week, when the work was the most intense. After that, their schedule of 6:30am-7pm proved to be an overstatement. They come at 7, which is a little hairy, but they are gone by 4 or 4:30 (I am fuzzy on when they actually leave because I tend to go to the park when they are here. But they are definitely gone by 5). One thing that is very unfair: they are turning off the heating/cooling in our building f...

Eric's party was a big hit. All the kids were absorbed in making elaborate Lego creations. There was a separate room with food and wine for the parents. They loved this. (Some of them loved it a little too much.) I woke up with a crusty swollen eye. So I went to a local drugstore that has a doctor present. They gave me some eye drops. I started reading a book by Ken Bruen, called The Guards. Irish crime fiction, recommended by a friend. Not my usual genre, but I like it. Sometimes it's fun to step outside your habits.